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Riot police swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi in Cairo on Wednesday. At least 278 people were killed nationwide.

An Egyptian woman tries to stop a military bulldozer from hurting a wounded youth during clashes that broke out as Egyptian security forces moved in to disperse supporters of Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo on Wednesday. (MOHAMMED ABDEL MONEIM / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi throws a water container onto a fire during clashes with police in Cairo on Wednesday. (MOSAAB EL-SHAMY / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A supporter of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi during clashes with Egyptian security forces in Cairo's Nasr City district on Wednesday. (Manu Brabo / AP)

By The Associated Press

Wed., Aug. 14, 2013

CAIRO—Riot police backed by armoured vehicles, bulldozers and helicopters Wednesday swept away two encampments of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, setting off running street battles in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. At least 278 people were killed nationwide, many of them in the crackdown on the protest sites.

Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and pro-reform leader in the interim government, resigned in protest over the assaults as the military-backed leadership imposed a month-long state of emergency and nighttime curfew.

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Clashes broke out elsewhere in the capital and other provinces as Islamist anger spread over the dispersal of the six-week-old sit-ins by Morsi’s Islamist supporters that divided Egypt.

It was the highest single day death toll since the 18-day uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The Health Ministry said 235 civilians were killed and more than 2,000 injured, while Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said an additional 43 police officers died in the assault. He said Morsi supporters attacked 21 police stations and seven Coptic Christian churches across the nation, and assaulted the Finance Ministry in Cairo, occupying its ground floor.

The violence drew condemnation from other predominantly Muslim countries, but also from the West, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry saying it had dealt a “serious blow” to Egypt’s political reconciliation efforts.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird also issued a statement, expressing deep concern over the violence and calling on Egypt to implement much-needed changes to ease tensions.

Canada supports “a transparent democratic system that respects the voices of its citizens, and that encourages and respects civil society and all other segments of the population,” the statement said.

“We urge both parties to avoid violence, and engage in a meaningful political dialogue for the good of all Egyptians.”

The assault to take control of the two sit-in sites came after days of warnings by the interim administration that replaced Morsi after he was ousted in a July 3 coup. The camps on opposite sides of the capital began in late June to show support for Morsi. Protesters — many from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood — have demanded his reinstatement.

The smaller camp was cleared relatively quickly, but it took hours for police to take control of the main sit-in site, which is near the Rabbah al-Adawiya Mosque that has served as the epicentre of the pro-Morsi campaign.

Several senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who were wanted by police were detained after police stormed the camp near the mosque, according to security officials and state television. Among those seized were Brotherhood leaders Mohammed el-Beltagy and Essam el-Erian, and hard-line cleric Safwat Hegazy — all wanted by prosecutors to answer allegations of inciting violence and conspiring to kill anti-Morsi protesters.

Police dismantled the main stage near the mosque, in the eastern Cairo district of Nasr City, the official MENA news agency said. Hundreds of protesters left the sit-in site carrying their belongings.

Smoke clogged the sky above Cairo and fires smouldered on the streets, which were lined with charred poles and tarps after several tents were burned.

In imposing the state of emergency, the government ordered the armed forces to support the police in restoring law and order and protect state facilities. The nighttime curfew affects Cairo and 10 provinces.

The Egyptian Central Bank instructed commercial banks to close branches in areas affected by the chaos. The landmark Giza Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum also were closed to visitors for the day as a precaution, according to the Ministry of Antiquities.

The turmoil was the latest chapter in a bitter standoff between Morsi’s supporters and the interim leadership that took over the Arab world’s most populous country. The military ousted Morsi after millions of Egyptians massed in the streets at the end of June to call for him to step down, accusing him of giving the Brotherhood undue influence and failing to implement vital reforms or bolster the ailing economy.

The coup provoked similar protests by Morsi’s backers after he and other Brotherhood leaders were detained as divisions have deepened, dealing a major blow to hopes of an end to the turmoil that followed the 2011 revolution against Mubarak.

Morsi has been held at an undisclosed location. Other Brotherhood leaders have been charged with inciting violence or conspiring in the killing of protesters.

“The world cannot sit back and watch while innocent men, women and children are being indiscriminately slaughtered. The world must stand up to the military junta’s crime before it is too late,” said an emailed statement from the Brotherhood’s media office in London.

ElBaradei, a former head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, was named only last month as interim President Adly Mansour’s deputy for foreign relations.

In his resignation letter, he wrote that he is not prepared to be held responsible for a “single drop of blood,” and that only more violence will result. He said Egypt is more polarized than when he took office.

The pro-Morsi Anti-Coup alliance claimed security forces used live ammunition against them, but the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, said its forces only used tear gas and that they came under fire from the camp.

The Interior Ministry statement also warned that forces would deal firmly with protesters who were acting “irresponsibly,” suggesting that it would respond in kind if its men are fired upon. It said it would guarantee safe passage to all who want to leave the Nasr City site but would arrest those wanted for questioning by prosecutors.

Army troops did not take part in the two operations, but provided security at the locations. Police and army helicopters hovered over both sites hours after the police launched the simultaneous actions shortly after 7 a.m.

An alliance of pro-Morsi groups said Asmaa Mohammed el-Beltagy, the 17-year-old daughter of the senior Brotherhood figure who was detained by police, was shot and killed. Her brother, Ammar, confirmed her death on his Twitter account.

A security official said 200 protesters were arrested at both sites. Several men could be seen walking with their hands up as they were led away by black-clad police.

Before he was detained, Mohammed el-Beltagy urged police and army troops to mutiny, and said Egyptians should take to the streets to show their disapproval of the crackdown.

“Oh, Egyptian people, your brothers are in the square. . . . Are you going to remain silent until the genocide is completed?” said el-Beltagy, who is wanted by authorities to answer allegations of inciting violence.

Police fired tear gas elsewhere in Cairo to disperse Morsi supporters who wanted to join the Nasr City camp after it came under attack. State TV also reported that a police captain had been abducted by Morsi supporters in the area, but there was no official statement about that.

Islam Tawfiq, a Brotherhood member at the Nasr City sit-in, said the camp’s medical centre was filled with dead and that the injured included children.

“No one can leave and those who do are either arrested or beaten up,” he said.

Security officials said train services between northern and southern Egypt were suspended to prevent Morsi supporters from travelling to Cairo. Clashes erupted on two roads in the capital’s upscale Mohandiseen district when Morsi supporters opened fire on passing cars and pedestrians. Police used tear gas to chase them away.

Churches belonging to Egypt’s minority Coptic Christians were torched in four provinces south of Cairo — Minya, Assiut, Sohag and the desert oasis Fayoum. In the city of Bani Suef south of Cairo, protesters set three police cars on fire. Farther south in the Islamist stronghold of Assiut, police used tear gas to disperse pro-Morsi crowds in the city centre.

The U.S. gave a stern warning to Egypt’s leaders, with Kerry condemning the violence as well as the restoration of emergency rule. He urged them to calm the situation.

“This is a pivotal moment for all Egyptians,” said Kerry, who spoke by phone with the foreign minister. “The path toward violence leads only to greater instability, economic disaster and suffering.”

At least 250 people have died in previous clashes since the coup.

Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, had just completed a year in office when he was toppled. He has largely been held incommunicado but was visited by the European Union’s top diplomat, Catherine Ashton, and an African delegation.

Several bids by the U.S., the European Union and Gulf Arab states to reconcile the two sides in Egypt in an inclusive political process have failed, with the Brotherhood insisting that Morsi must first be freed along with several of the group’s leaders who have been detained in connection with incitement of violence.

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